BRAUN, JOSEF:

Austrian journalist, dramatist, and librettist; born at Budapest, May 5, 1840. Braun was educated for the profession of medicine at the University of Vienna, but abandoned his medical studies in 1860 to join the editorial staff of Isidor Heller's "Fortschritt," on which he was trusted with Hungarian affairs. Next he joined the staffs of the "Wanderer," "Morgenpost" (as editor-in-chief), "Debatte," and in 1869 the "Tagespresse." From 1869 to 1870 he managed the humoristic illustrated paper "Der Floh"; in 1871 he founded the "Bombe," which he sold to establish, in 1881, the "Wiener Caricaturen." Among his works are: "Emporkömmlinge," a romance, published in 1874 in the "Bombe"; "Lustige Weiber von Wien," 1881; and the following plays and libretti: "Flotte Bursche," 1861 (music by Suppé); "Die Pagen von Versailles," 1862; "Die Keusche Diana," 1864 (the first opera composed by Millöcker); "Carneval in Rom," 1877 (music by Johann Strauss); "Hector in der Tinte"; "Bibiana und Leodegar"; "In den Flitterwochen"; and "Während der Quadrille."